


Kids, Costumes, and Candy

by BleedxLikexMe, Half-Dead-And-Still-Fighting (BleedxLikexMe)



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: (Spoiler Alert: It's Phil), (Spoiler Alert: It's Still Phil), Clint cries a lot, Depression, Everyone cries a lot, F/M, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Kid Fic, M/M, Okay these tags are getting rediculous, Phil Coulson Tased Chuck Norris (and Tony Stark), Temporary Character Death, The Avengers' Unsung Hero, The Best Avenger Ever, This is what i get for writing fic at 3:02am, Tony Stark Throwing Money Everywhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-28
Updated: 2013-08-28
Packaged: 2017-12-24 22:12:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/945266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleedxLikexMe/pseuds/BleedxLikexMe, https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleedxLikexMe/pseuds/Half-Dead-And-Still-Fighting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Halloween and Clint sees a costume of someone he lost. The outcome is something he never expected to happen, but he's okay with that.</p><p>(Sorry, I'm posting this at 3:00 in the morning so everything might suck a lot)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kids, Costumes, and Candy

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to apologize about this fic before any of you read it. I haven't looked it over for errors. I haven't even considered the plot to this. I just wanted to write something about Halloween. This is the horrible tragedy that came from it.

Clint, see, Clint loved Halloween. Loved the scent of it in the air, loved the feeling of it, and, most of all, he loved the freedom of it. He loved that you could be someone else for a night. He loved that you didn't have to be you. Sometimes, when your life is utter shit that's all you had.

Clint never had much growing up, but he always made sure to celebrate Halloween. Every year he did up his apartment, put on a costume (if he could afford it and if he wasn't on a mission), and gave out candy. But... this year. He just wasn't feeling it this year. His husband was dead. There wasn't much to do but wallow, y'know? So he didn't buy candy, he locked his door, he didn't decorate his apartment, and he didn't watch any scary movies.

Because what was the point? Phil wasn't there to enjoy it with him and it was just too much energy to try. His doorbell rang a few times and Clint tried to ignore it. He really did. But every year before he made sure to give out the best treats on the block. Not that it was a very good neighborhood, but still. He did his best. Finally, after the sixteenth time his doorbell had been rung, he figured he should answer it, explain he didn't have any candy, and make sure his porch light was off.

That was the plan, at least until he opened his door. There stood an exhausted looking father and a young girl. She was maybe ten or eleven and Clint quickly realized they were his down-the-hall neighbors, Jack and Cheyenne. Cheyenne had her hair slicked back and she wore a dark grey suit with a black tie. She had a pleasantly blank expression and and held out a briefcase, "Trick or treat." She informed Clint smoothly and Clint frowned, a bit thrown by all this.

"Uh, who're you supposed to be?" Clint asked, wracking his brain for an answer. It didn't make any sense. Clearly she wasn't Tony, but maybe she was something else? Did they have boring accountants on kids shows these days? Clint thought it was all acid trip drawing styles and fart jokes.

The girls face scrunched up a bit and she huffed at him, like she'd had to answer this question every time someone opened the door, "I'm Special Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD, Mister Barton. Only the greatest Avenger ever." She told him seriously.

Clint choked. What? She was- how- what? Cheyenne frowned at him and reached out to him, causing Clint to realize he was crying. Well, that was just great. Just- fantastic. Make the kid and her dad think you're even more of a weirdo, why don't you? Cheyenne's eyes darted to the side and they widened, "I'm sorry." She wailed, throwing her arms around his legs.

Clint staggared backwards slightly, using the doorframe to catch himself, "What?" Clint gasped between sobs and Jack's face paled suddenly.

"Oh, shit. Clint. We're so sorry. Here, Cheyenne, honey, let's just leave him alone, alright?" Jack tried to tug Cheyenne off of Clint but she sobbed and clung tighter.

"I don't-" Clint began but Jack cut him off and pointed behind him. Clint twisted around, Cheyenne still clinging to him, whispering and wailing apologies the whole time. Clint swore when he saw his SHIELD issue uniform and bow and arrow set hanging up against the wall. He'd cleaned it up from the last mission a few days ago and hadn't gotten around to putting it away properly yet.

Fuck.

"We won't tell anyone!" Cheyenne swore, "I just don't want you to sad anymore. When mommy died daddy was sad for a long time but he said I made him better and maybe the Black Widow can make you better 'cause you're best friends?" She babbled, looking up at him with wide eyes and trembling lips.

Clint's heart clenched and he squatted down so he was eye level with her, "Cheyenne, you make me better. Just knowing people love Phil-" He swallowed the lump in his throat, "that makes me better." He pulled out his cell phone and waved it at her and Jack, "Can I snag a picture?" He asked and Jack instantly nodded. Clint angled the phone at her and she put on her best Agent Coulson face. Clint saved it as his wallpaper.

Cheyenne darted forwards and hugged him tight before stepping back towards her dad, "I'm gonna make everyone love Agent Coulson." She promised with a steely glint in her eye, "Everyone's gonna love him and you're gonna get better because the Avengers need you, Hakweye. We all need you and Phil loved you lots. He made the squishy-love face all the time to you. I know cause mommy made that face at daddy a lot." She tucked her briefcase under her arm and gave him a wet smile, "I love Phil, too. He was the best. Now I'm gonna make everyone in the whole world realize that!" Cheyenne went to her apartment and shut the door behind her.

Jack shuffled on his feet awkwardly, "Listen, Clint- I know it's not my place but... when Sally died I hated being alone. I never wanted it to happen. So... if you want, if you ever feel like that, come on over. Door's always open for ya'."

Clint blinked back tears and nodded mutely. He couldn't trust his voice right then, but Jack seemed to get it because he just gave Clint a tired smile and headed back to his place. Clint sluggishly shut his door and latched it before sliding down the wood to have a good, long cry.

Three days later Clint left his apartment around seven am and noticed a bunch of posters hanging around the walls of the building. There were tons of flyers around the city at any given moment, but these stuck out to Clint. Finally, Clint slowed and peeled one off of a wall in disbelief. The poster was the size of printer paper, but it had Phil's face on it with the caption 'Avengers Unsung Hero' on it a website on it. Clint took a tab with the URL on it, stuffed it in his pocket, and headed to the Tower.

Once he was there he snagged a tablet from the pile in the kitchen and hesitantly typed in the URL. Instantly, he was swarmed with pictures of Phil, bits of information about him, praise for him, fan videos, links to fanfictions, a store where you could purchase Phil Coulson memorobilia. Crying, Clint bought several dozen stickers that proudly proclaimed 'Phil Coulson was a BAMF' on it, as well as a 'Phil Coulson Tased Chuck Norris (and Tony Stark)' t-shirt for each Avenger.

It felt... amazing. Just seeing the hit counter continuously go up on the site, finding links to blogs for Phil, finding people make memorials, seeing fanart and fanfictions about Phil... it made everything easier to handle. And the fact that his two neighbors had started this? That helped so much more.

The team found Clint passed out on the couch with tear stains and a peaceful smile on his face.

Six months later, after Phil had come back and Clint had forgiven him, Clint showed himm everything. He told Phil about Jack and Cheyenne, about the website, about them knowing who the two Agents were. Everything. He and Phil cried as they held each other that night.

The next day, however, was a big deal. Coulson had come to Clint with a question and Clint had instantly agreed. Which is how he ended up, in full gear, with his team, also in full gear, for Jack and Cheyenne to get home. When Jack opened the door and Cheyenne had come tearing into their living room with an arm full of papers, Clint grinned.

Cheyenne stopped in the middle of the room, eyes wide as saucers. She dropped her papers, grinning beautifically, and screamed. She darted forwards, then back, then forwards again as her father came running in to help her. He stopped short, gaping at the scene before him. His daughter was running around in a small circle, screaming, and the Avengers were lounging in his living room. Clint understood. It was a big deal for most people.

Cheyenne hopped infront of Bruce and started babbling at him about some scientific theory or another, paused to draw in a breath (dragging Tony over as she did), and then started talking again. Steve just chuckled at the three of them, who were already in full swing with their Science! talk. Clint took the chance to head over to a still gaping Jack, "Sorry about the bee and ee."

Jack mutely shook his head and cleared his throat, "No, I mean, it's fine. This made Chey's day."

Clint smirked, "Oh man, you ain't seen nothin' yet." He patted Jack on the shoulder and turned towards Cheyenne, "Hey, punk! There's somebody here you gotta meet." Cheyenne looked over to Clint but frowned when she saw her new Science! friends moving away from her. Before she could complain, Phil stepped out from between them all.

Clint saw it before it happened and it was glorious. Cheyenne's eyes got even bigger (Clint hadn't thought that was possible but he was best friends with an alien, so he wasn't actually the best judge for reality), her mouth dropped wide, she drew in a breath, and SCREAMED. Tony winced and clapped his hands over his ears, muttering, "I liked it better when she was rapid fire science." Bruce nodded, his lips curling up at the edges in amusement.

Phil held up his hand for silence and Cheyenne clapped his hands over her mouth, eyes still huge. Phil smiled and kneeled down so he was face to face with her, "Hello, Cheyenne."

"You know my name." She whispered, her words were muffled from behind her hands, but everybody heard her. They all chuckled for a moment.

"Yes, I know your name and I know something else, too." Phil said, and tugged his briefcase closer to him before popping it open, "I know that you saw my husband in pain and that you went above and beyond the call of duty to help him. For that, I am forever in your debt." Cheyenne opened her mouth to protest but Phil shook his head, "No, see, you're a hero. You helped someone without even thinking of the reward. You helped him because it was the right thing to do." He pulled out a black box with the SHIELD logo on it and handed it over to her. Clint pulled out another one and gave it to Jack with a grin.

They opened both boxes and stared for a long time. Finally, Cheyenne pulled out a SHIELD badge with her picture and name on it, an Avengers ID card, and a security pass to the Avengers Tower. Jack pulled out the same things, but he had an added three hundred thousand dollar check in his, courtesy of one Tony Stark. Jack shook his head, pushing the check into Clints chest, "I- I can't..." He stuttered, looking like he was going to faint.

Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes, earning an elbow to his ribs for that. Steve smiled at Jack, "We're really hoping you will. You have no idea how much what you two have done means to us. We were lost without Phil and you helped bring him back to us before he was ready to actually come back. You kept more than just his memory alive." Steve said seriously. Jack just nodded numbly and tucked the check into the black box.

"By the way," Tony began, "this building is about to go under renovations, so you guys are gonna need a place to stay for a couple of weeks."

"What?"

"Tony!"

"What did you do, Stark."

"Renovations?"

Tony grinned, rocking back on his heels, "Oh, did I not mention that before? I bought this place. Figured it could use some sprucing up."

Jack blinked, "Uh, when do the renovations start? I can find us a hotel or something and a storage place to put all of our stuff in until it's all finished."

"You guys have these red and silver cards in there somewhere. They're pretty handy. Do me a favor and tap the icon on one of 'em." Tony insisted with a grin. Jack pulled his out and tapped the icon. There was a ringing sound coming from the card he smirked, "Hello Mister Skeggr, this is Miss Potts, I'm sure Tony is having you call me without having explained anything."

"Uh..." Jack tried but failed to speak.

"This is his eccentric billionare way of telling you that until the renovations are complete you have the option of staying at the Avengers Tower."

"Wha-?"

"Of course you'll have access to our cars and drivers, should you choose to use them and we can have movers at your apartment to pack your things and move them over here whenever you'd like." Pepper told him. Jack looked about ready to faint.

"Tony." Steve scowled, "What about everyone else in the complex? What are they going to do?"

"I got that covered. Stark Industries is footing the bill for their moving costs and setting them all up in a swanky hotel and they get their own rental for the time it takes to complete everything." Tony stuck his tongue out at Steve and Clint just laughed. Cheyenne had started bouncing around Thor in circles, clutching her black box to her chest and Jack looked like he was finally starting to process everything.

"Okay then." He muttered, "That sounds great." Everyone beamed then, even surly old Bruce. Clint couldn't help the light feeling in his chest. It was like everything was finally right with the world.

"OHMIGOD DOES THIS MEAN I'M AN HONORARY AVENGER AND SHIELD AGENT?!" Cheyenne screamed.

Clint figured this added bonus was owed to him.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I'll be coming back to add italics and I would appreciate it if you pointed out any errors to me.
> 
> \--Update--
> 
> I JUST realized I named the Parent!OC's Jack and Sally.  
> .....I've been having a lot of Nightmare Before Christmas feels, okay? Don't judge me.


End file.
